Illegal building rubble catches fire

Illegally dumped building rubble and tyres caught fire in Elandsfontein on Thursday afternoon.

The fire was dangerously close to a large factory and smoke from the blaze could be seen from Modderfontein.

Flames reaching over three meters high burnt out power lines and electric fences while residents flocked to the scene suspecting the nearby factory had caught alight.

One resident at the scene, who asked to remain anonymous, said illegal dumping was irresponsible behaviour.

“Who is going to pay for the damage this fire has caused? We the tax paying citizens will end up paying for this,” the resident said.

He also questioned what would have happened if the fire had spread into the nearby factory.

“The factory is massive, so many people would have been affected,” he said.

Shortly before 5pm, firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze.